


Reunions and Discoveries

by MrsReginaLocksley



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen, timebaby!fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-31
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2017-12-13 12:10:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/824159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsReginaLocksley/pseuds/MrsReginaLocksley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-The Name of the Doctor. The Doctor receives a message on the Psychic paper to come to the New York Public Library. Why? To get the shock of his lifetime in short and taken on an adventure he’ll never forget. River/Eleven eventually, Clara/Eleven friendship. Spoilers for the Name of the Doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Terra Means Land In Latin

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on here yay! And this is my first Doctor Who fanfic in a very long while. I do roleplay Doctor Who on tumblr so if you recognize an OC in here she's mine. :)
> 
> Also, disclaimer: I don't own anything, all belongs to BBC and the writers of Doctor Who. I only own my OC.

Clara stepped on the TARDIS and from the moment she did, she had the inkling that the Doctor was up to something. She watched him flutter around the TARDIS mumbling things that only he could comprehend and flipping various switches on the console. She thought back to when he tried to teach her how to fly it and thought it was best not to go down that path again just to get him to speak to her.

"Doctor?" She finally asked. His floppy brown hair shot up and he smiled.

"Clara! Oh hello, Clara. Okay well we won't be going too far today. Well, to be honest, oh Clara have you ever been to America?" His discombobulated speech sent Clara back into a feeling of normalcy. He often spoke like that so her mind rested at ease.

Clara crossed her arms over chest and she cocked her head to the side, "Well, Doctor where exactly are we going in America?"

"New York City!" The thought of going back to New York pained him slightly because the loss of the Ponds was still fresh in the old Time Lord's mind but this would be after they died, so no paradox could occur, he just had to avoid any place he went with Amy and Rory. Right. That should help.

The Doctor ran over the console and spun some dials and pushed some buttons and they were off, moving in space not time on this adventure.

"Why exactly are we going to New York City, Doctor?" Clara had been before, on a trip with some friends one summer about three years ago. She peeked over his shoulder, standing on her tip toes, why was he so tall and lanky? Clara thought.

The Doctor turned to face her and took a step back, not quite realizing that they were standing so close in proximity. Their bond had grown closer after visiting his grave. Ever since she remember all his faces and he had taken her out of his own timestream and back to the TARDIS they now stood in, their bond had grown much like a brother and sister one. They always wanted to protect each other. After all, Clara was born to save the Doctor.

"We are going to New York because I got this message on the psychic paper." The Doctor pulled out the psychic paper and letters began to write themselves on the blank sheet. The message read: 'New York City Public Library. New York, New York baby. Come quick. -JH.'

"Who is JH and why do they need you to come quick." Clara questioned him. She was curious about anything and everything, especially regarding the Doctor. She had seen each of his faces, yet some details were still unclear.

"You might recognize him. Jack Harkness." The Doctor said with a slight smile and landed the TARDIS, annoying, wheezing noise following it. "Think back to my ninth and tenth faces, Clara."

Clara thought for a moment, in her fleeting moments of trying to save the Doctor throughout the years, she remembered a man, tall, brown hair, always flirting. Yes. She remembered Captain Jack Harkness very vaguely. "Alright, so what's he want?"

"Well, Jack works for Torchwood it's an organization formed by the British Empire back in the 1800's. Long story short, I'm assuming he needs my help with some alien related issue." The Doctor explained and grabbed his coat.

Clara could barely believe her ears, "alien related issue. At a library?"

The Doctor nodded, "You wouldn't believe the stories I could tell of libraries." And there was one in particular he'd rather never repeat. Thinking of River hurt him too much.

Clara let out a great sigh and followed the Doctor out the TARDIS doors. She stepped out of the TARDIS and onto the soft green grass of a park in New York City. "Doctor, I don't see the library anywhere, are we going to use the motorbike again?"

The Doctor shook his head, "What's the problem in walking, Clara? I quite like walking, walking is fun." The Doctor began to walk head of his companion. He wondered what Jack wanted with him after all these years, they hadn't seen each other since his last regeneration. He had to admit he missed the immortal time agent but then again, he could do without the constant flirting.

xxxx

After stopping for hot dogs, twice, and getting frozen yogurt, three times, Clara and the Doctor walked up the steps of the stone building that read in big encarved letters 'NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY'. They went through the doors and when they were stopped by a security guard, the Doctor flashed his psychic paper.

"John Smith and Clara Oswald." The guard had a change of expression like he believed him and motioned them forward.

"Just go through the security check, empty your pockets and put any bags on the cart, and you should be good Mr. Smith. You two have a good day." The security guard curtly nodded and stood back at attention at his post.

They went through the security check, the Doctor passing off his sonic screwdriver as a special pen. As they looked around the main lobby they saw there were three floors to the library. Shelves upon shelves of books almost completely encompassed the library except for the wall behind them. There were elevators on either side so people could get to the upper levels without having to travel up flights of stairs. The Doctor walked up to the front desk, "Excuse me but has a Jack Harkness passed through here?"

"Yes, he said he'd be doing maintenance on the second floor behind the children's section. Had quite the crew with him and the strangest equipment I've ever seen." The woman laughed quietly and pointed the direction that Jack went.

The Doctor rocked back and forth on his heels, "Thank you." He grabbed Clara's hand and went for the elevator.

When they reached their destination he saw lots of flashes and silenced guns that clearly didn't have bullets but for the sake that they were in a library, all the weapons seemingly had be silences. "Jack!" The Doctor called. There were little to no children around, most were down below with their parents.

Jack Harkness, not looking any older than the Doctor last saw him, popped his head out of the room he was currently apparently kicking alien ass in and grinned, "Doc! You look great! And who's the-" He was cut off by jerking back inside the classroom and various flashes went off.

The Doctor looked at Clara and took her by the shoulders, "You stay behind me I don't exactly know what could be in there."

The Doctor walked in and was shocked, "Lazer tag? Jack, you're playing Lazer tag? You called me across time and space for Lazer tag?" He dodged the Lazer that was coming towards him and gave Jack a glare.

"C'mon, Doc, I had to make it seem urgent, want to play?"

"Why of all places are you playing it here?" The Doctor asked, clearly not amused by his old friend's antics.

Jack called the team to a halt, "Because of this." He pulled out a device and handed it to him, "my readings went off the charts the other day when I passed by the library. It registered an Human plus lifeform. The plus, was Time Lord DNA, Doc. You wanna explain?"

The Doctor took the reader and punched in some numbers. He took out his sonic and sonic'ed the device carefully so it didn't overload it and looked at his own readings that his sonic gave him.

"So you're here waiting for the signal to pop up again?"

"Yeah, the signal went off on Friday, library is closed on the weekends. Now it's Monday." Just as he finished his sentence, Jack's reader began to beep incredulously. "They're here." Jack took the reader back and set it on a mode that would beep louder as they got closer.

"Wait. You said you were maintanence. We're just every day library goers Maybe I should be the one to do this." The Doctor stopped Jack from proceeding, "it will look less... fishy... you go on about what you were doing." The Doctor rolled his eyes briefly, "and we'll come back here in a few minutes."

As they walked down the corridors, the beeping got closer together and louder. They had to make several turnarounds but the beeping was more consistent until they found a room set off for people that just wanted to read. There were various types of people in there. Students cramming for exams, people reading diet books, people reading saucy romance novels, and other people reading other various genres for pleasure. The reader was now stagnant. They had honed in the location of the Human+ person but which one, he didn't know.

The Doctor put the reader away, he made a shush motion with his finger to Clara to remain quiet as they entered the room. He noticed a stack of books he presumed people had put down after they finished reading them and picked one up. Clara picked one up as well. They each sat on different sides of the room.

The old Time Lord's attention was caught by a girl with curly black hair propped up in a chair sideways so her legs hung over the arm of the chair. She was reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. Oh could the Doctor point out the inaccuracies in that book. She held the book in one hand and played with a necklace in the other. The Doctor shifted slightly and tried to get a better look at her. He quickly looked back at his book like he was interested in it as the girl moved to get up. He heard footsteps towards him and he slowly looked up.

"That books a good read, I only hope you see that, cause you know, you're reading it upside down." She said simply with a smirk.

That's when he noticed it, her necklace. There was no way this could have been some novelty necklace from a shop. What he saw, it was Circular Gallifreyan. It spelled out "Terra". As she moved to leave, the Doctor shot out of his chair and sat the book down. He followed her out and the reader began to beep again in his jacket pocket. The Doctor continued to follow her till she made her way to the history section. With a groan, the Doctor passed by all the books he could point at blankly and say they were wrong. When she stopped, he stopped. He wasn't sure if it was her name but he tried it, "Terra."

The girl turned to face him, "That's my name, how did you know my name?"

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck nervously, "It's on your necklace."

"Excuse me?" She heard a faint flatline noise and cocked her head, "what's the noise inside your jacket?"

"That's my umm..." The Doctor didn't have an answer this time, "Come with me." He grabbed onto her hand and tugged her back to where Clara was in the other room.

Terra was flabbergasted at this man's sudden audacity to just jerk her away from where she was and back into the room she was before. "Sir? What are you doing?" She jerked her hand away once he stopped walking and looked at him, completely horrified.

Clara walked up to them, "Doctor, why does she look like you just tried to kidnap her?" She asked and crossed her arms.

"Because he did!" Terra interjected and several people shushed her.

"Right, let's go back upstairs." He began to walk back to the children's section where Jack and crew were at, when he heard only a pair of footsteps behind him the Doctor turned around, "Coming?" He asked Terra.

"Of course not!" Terra glared at him and crossed her arms.

Clara went to her, "Just humor him, it'll be over much faster this way."

Terra let out a groan and followed them back to the children's section. She looked in the room they went into and sighed. "I feel like I should be calling the cops." Terra walked towards the group, "Are you federal agents? Or are all of you just looney?"

"Pretty sure they're looney," Clara said. She walked up to Terra, "My name's Clara Oswald."

"Terra Song." Terra said with a smile.

The Doctor's ears perked up, "Terra Song?" His non-existent eyebrows hit his hairline.

"Yeah, Song." She was growing impatient with this man. "What do you want me for anyways?"

The Doctor walked up to her and pulled out the reader, "This is a reader, it scans for paranormal and extraterrestrial anomalies. After it has scanned it tells you what anomalies it found. It found Time Lord DNA, I'm what's called a Time Lord. Now there's only one left, that's me. There's another person or there was in the universe with Time Lord DNA that was... nevermind but she's gone so how, how could the reader tell me that you have Time Lord DNA."

Terra looked at him, she was quiet and shocked. "I don't know."

The Doctor became frustrated and ran his hands through his hair, "Why. Why is your last name Song, why... Terra... What does Terra mean?" He wracked his brain.

"Terra is 'land' in Latin, why, Doctor?" Clara asked.

"Land Song. LAND Song!" The Doctor spun, "River..." He whispered.

"What is wrong with him?" Terra took a few steps back from him, "Does he need medication?"

Clara shrugged, "Most would say yes but this is how he normally is."

"Terra, I don't know how to say this, but you're my daughter."


	2. The Biggest Database in the Universe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! Chapter two is here. The ending got me really excited so chapter 3 will probably be up soon. Enjoy!

"I'm your what? Are you insane?" She asked, completely insulted. "First, you look like you're twelve, second, why would I want to be the daughter of a lunatic, and third, that's a seriously presumptuous assumption."

The Doctor looked at the girl, she had River's eyes and his cheekbones. She had River's hair too, just longer and tamed from years of most likely styling tools because she probably didn't like fussing with it.

"Terra, will you come with me so I can explain, real properly explain. If you want to leave and never see me again after this, fine, okay, but please let me explain."

Terra gave him a wary look and took in a deep breath, if he was her father, she may get answers out of him as to why she was given up. "Fine." She rolled her eyes as she watched him get incredibly excited.

"Right, well come on then, TARDIS is this away." He pointed outside and she gave him another of wary.

What had she just gotten herself into?

xxxx

"What does TARDIS stand for again?" She asked as she ran her hand along the railing around the console.

"It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It's magnificent isn't it?" The Doctor turned around in a circle and clapped happily.

Terra stared up at the ceiling, it was huge. "So you were going to explain everything." She said as she regained her composure.

The Doctor motioned her over and sighed heavily, "I had a wife once, and she and I, being time travelers, we always met in the wrong order." Even though he had just begun, talking about River hurt him so much on the inside. A physical ache formed in his two hearts but his daughter had a right to know so he had to tell her. He continued, "It all started in my last regeneration, I came apparently like she said I always did, but it was too far back." The Doctor sat down on the steps of the console and she sat down next to him. "For her. She had experienced everything we could have with me. In her own personal future. I didn't know her at all. It was too far back in my personal timeline." The Doctor let out a heavy sigh before continuing, "Your mother drove me crazy, keeping all those secrets. It was like, the less I knew about her, the more she knew about me and vice versa. Apparently, the older I got, the younger I met her. Eventually it evened out after we were married and there were a few decades sent in marital bliss where, for the most part, when we crossed paths, we were pretty up to date with the other. Apparently as it got wonky once more, River never told me about you, or her pregnancy. That's why it came to such a shock to me. She left behind a piece of her to find. You."

Terra gave him an expressionless look, "So that's all I am to you? A pawn in your star crossed relationship with my dead mother?" She began to get up and walk out.

"No! Terra!" The Doctor quickly grabbed he arm and she turned around. "That's not what I meant. I am so happy to find she had a child, our child, my child. You." The Doctor smiled briefly, "Our relationship was complicated to say the least but I loved her. I never quite showed it too well until it was too late and she deserved better than that but please let me take this opportunity now to be your father. Let me properly love and be your father."

Terra was silent before she spoke. "I have a life, down there in New York. I have school among other things..." Namely the guy in her Lit class. "I can't travel around with you, age, and then expect to pop back on the same day as if nothing happened. I'd be ahead of everyone else's timeline and I don't want that."

The Doctor was silent for a moment, she did raise quite a few good points. She was so much like River in trying to argue with him. "I see. But Terra, please consider this. The TARDIS takes me where I need to be and that may not always be where I want. I don't want you to walk out of those doors and I try to see you in a few days and she takes me a few years in the future. I don't want you to think because of that, I abandoned you or anything. Please Terra. I want and need to be your father. Let me do this one thing." The Doctor was pleading with her now. Something he only did in face of his enemies to leave an innocent race alone.

Terra hated the look on her father's face, "I don't know, Doctor, I've never had a real family before." She said quietly.

"Then this is your opportunity." He said.

"Okay." She said. She couldn't believe how quickly it came out. "I'll travel with you."

"Really?" The Doctor stood up. "Alright, Clara, Terra, where would you like to go?"

xxxx

"Okay you didn't mention possibly running into terrifying monsters that want to kill us!" Terra screamed as she hid behind a wall with Clara and the Doctor.

The Doctor gave her a frantic look, "Yes, well the Sontarans aren't always this angry with me. Sorry."

Terra glared at him, "So you landed us right where angry Sontarans where? By accident!?"

"Sorry." He said again.

Terra groaned and pushed herself off the wall and ran over to the TARDIS. She could see it fairly easily from where she was. She pushed on the doors and they opened, she fell through and into the console room. The Doctor and Clara weren't far behind her and nearly tripped over her. Terra regained her footing and slid inside the TARDIS just as the Sontarans were charging towards the door. After the door closed she rested against it as her father saddled up to the console.

"Can we go somewhere peaceful and quiet? Like a library?"

"Yes! Like a library. Here let me look." The Doctor pulled up a database on one of the screens around the console.

Clara walked up to him, "I'm the companion, let me choose." She said with a laugh, "you taught me how to fly this anyways, so move away Chin Boy."

Terra laughed, "Wow, are you always this whipped for your companions?" Terra asked and raised a brow.

The Doctor walked over to his daughter, "No but she punches when she doesn't get her way and that hurts. My arm is still sore." It really wasn't but he rubbed it in comfort because of the memory it triggered.

Terra laughed and placed a hand to her father's shoulder. "Whipped." She said simply and walked up to Clara who was trying to remember how to fly the TARDIS. "Now how come you didn't say you'd teach me? I'm your daughter."

"Well I can teach you, after I drop Clara off I'll teach you." The Doctor said and made his way up to Clara and Terra.

Terra smirked triumphantly, "Excellent." She began to hear a loud wheezing noise and cringed, "Dear god, what is that?" She walked up to the console. "Can't you make that stop, Clara?" She asked.

"No, sorry, don't know how, Doctor never taught me." She said as she focused on making sure all the right levers were pulled and the right buttons were pressed.

Terra circled around the console and spotted blue buttons, she wondered what they did. She pressed them and suddenly the wheezing noise was going. "What did I just do?"

The Doctor look haunted as he approached her; almost if he wasn't so strong, he'd break down in tears at that very moment. "You pressed the blue stabilizers. It stops the wheezing. I leave the brakes on and pressing those stop the noise." The Doctor sighed heavily and looked at Clara, "We've landed. Where did you take us?"

Clara smiled bright and moved over to the doors of the TARDIS. She stepped out and the Doctor and Terra followed behind her.

"Clara... where did you take us?" He asked nervously. The Doctor fiddled with his bowtie and swallowed hard.

Clara turned around and smirked at them, "The Library. Come on Chin Boy. Let's go check out the biggest database in the universe."

"Clara wait!" The Doctor rushed back into the TARDIS to check the date of when they landed. Good. This was past when he had been here before. No paradox possible. Good. Avoiding paradoxes was always good. He came back out. "Okay, but be careful where you go."

Terra looked at him, confused, "What is wrong with you?" She asked.

"Terra, this is the Library, biggest database in the universe. But, it's also where your mother died."

The girl stopped in her tracks. She wrapped her arms around herself. Terra felt sick and she turned around and ran back inside the TARDIS. The door shut behind her and she collapsed down on the walkway, sobbing. All the bottled up emotions about being left on someone's doorstep by a parent who didn't love her just came rushing out. She didn't even know what her mother looked like, she only knew her name, and she felt so suffocated by the fact that, beyond those two doors of TARDIS, that's where her mother spent her final moments.

She heard a soft knock from the other side of the door and looked up from her face being buried in her hands.

"Terra? Terra please, please come out. I'm sorry, I didn't know exactly how else to put it. Just at least let me in so we can go somewhere else. Clara feels terrible, she didn't know where this was or how it would affect you." The Doctor said sadly. His voice was slightly muffled from speaking through the door.

Terra slowly got to her feet and opened the door, the Doctor rushed in and hugged her tight. Up until now, she and her father had formed a quasi friendship. She had only just met him and she wasn't sure what she was going to see their relationship as. Terra did however feel another immense amount of emotion wash over her and she burrowed into her father's embrace and began to cry again. She felt him rub soothing circles on her back and place his chin on the top of her head.

Terra gripped onto his jacket and began to calm down after a bit. Her sobs turned into hiccups and her tears soon dried. She looked up at her father and he kissed her on the head. Terra smiled and rested her head back down on his chest. "Da... Doctor... I think I'm ready to go back out." She said softly.

The Doctor pulled back and looked her in the eyes, "Are you sure, are you really sure, Terra?" He asked. "You don't have to do this."

"No, I can handle it. I think." She said and dried her eyes. "Let's go." She walked out and saw Clara standing there looking very guilty.

"Clara, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to react like that." She said quietly. "It's not your fault. I can do this. I just, I've been alone my whole life, so it's a bit hard to grasp that not only are we somewhere that my mother has been but it's the place where she died."

Clara looked up and it was clear that tears were forming in her eyes, "Sorry. It was the first time I properly flew the TARDIS and I landed her in the worst spot I could." Clara walked up to her, "Like the Doctor said, we can go somewhere else if you'd like." Clara tried a smile towards the younger girl.

"No, I'd like to see it. It's the biggest database in the universe after all." Terra said with a laugh.

xxxx

As they wandered around, a few people were confused as to why they had never seen them before. It was a planet but the time between everyone being downloaded from the data core was still not as long as the Doctor had expected. Time had elapsed long enough to where there was no possible way that his past incarnation and Donna would be standing in the Library somewhere so that was good but most of the people there now were still adjusting to life outside the data core. 4,022 lives. The Doctor laughed bitterly at the irony of the number. April 22nd was his anniversary with River. And yet, that number was one of the first things out of her mouth when he first met her.

The Doctor had Terra stay close to his side, a bit of fatherly protectiveness came out of him ever since their last visit to a planet and the Sontarans nearly killed them.

Terra looked at her father in annoyance every time she strayed a little too far from his side for his liking. "I'm not going to get killed here you know. It's a library, what's the worst that could happen? I get a paper cut?" She said, trying to add humor into the otherwise tense environment since her near mental breakdown on the TARDIS just after they landed.

The Doctor appreciated how much Terra had bounced back and smiled softly, "Alright but if you go off somewhere, stick with Clara!" He warned as the two girls ran off laughing. His companion and his daughter were turning into fast friends.

The Doctor made his way into the building and looked at all the people around. The little shoppe. Donna had thought they were actually going to shop in there. He laughed to himself. He never liked looking back but Clara and Terra had wanted to stay, so it would have been useless to argue against them. He greeted people here and there that he passed by and went into the main library area. He didn't mean to wander in there and hurt quite a bit. He saw the spot where he stood all those years ago and told his wife to quite frankly 'Get. Out.' It must have hurt her so much to see the lack of recognition on his face and he was sorry for that. He was sorry for all those years that they met in the wrong order just because he was stupid enough to come too early in his timestream.

The Doctor passed his hand over a computer and fiddled with the keyboard for old time's sake and the screen began to glitch. CAL access was granted and as the screen began to settle down a grainy image appeared on the screen. It cleared and the Doctor nearly fell over. Staring at him on through the other side of the screen was his wife. His dead wife. River. River was on the other side of the screen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey guys so DUN DUN DUN. Anyways, so I felt as though that was appropriate haha. Okay like I said this really got me excited so chapter three will be up soon. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	3. Why Are You My Clarity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Hi guys! Sorry to keep you waiting I've been doing stuff for camp all week and been writing this little by little. Ah speaking of that, all next week I will be at church camp and won't get back till probably around late afternoon on Saturday central time. What does that mean? That means only in my free time will I be able to write this fanfic. The place I'm staying has wifi so yay! But yes. This chapter is pretty long though so I hope that makes up for being gone next week. Enjoy! Also any weird typos in here, it's because it was typed on my phone. I tried catch them but I possibly didn't get them all.

River had Charlotte sat in front of her as she brushed the little girl's hair. Over the years she had developed a bit of a routine and this was one of the activities in it. If River closed her eyes and thought hard enough, she could imagine that her daughter, Terra was sat in front of her instead of Charlotte. She could be the mother she always wish she had been to Terra. She felt very cowardice just giving Terra up like that. She thought it was to protect her, but really, with meeting the Doctor in the wrong order, she couldn't risk him popping in on her taking care of little Terra. There would be too much to explain, especially if she saw younger versions of him.

She continued to brush the little girl's soft smooth hair when she heard a strange noise coming from the television in front of them. Her brow furrowed and she told Charlotte to go up to her room. River got on her knees and grabbed the remote in her hand. She slid down the panel that Charlotte had told her could interact with the Library. She pressed a few buttons and suddenly the screen became fuzzy. It was in and out it seemed with its signal, she cocked her head to the side and as it cleared she gasped. Her husband, the man who was an ageless god yet had the face of a twelve year old, was appearing on the other side of the screen. Despite the fact that it was going in and out, River knew it was him. She could never mistake the face of her Doctor.

"Doctor... Doctor can you hear me?" She asked frantically and got closer to the television screen. "Doctor please say something!" River pleaded, she didn't know why he was there but she needed to hear his voice again. "Doctor!" She screamed and the screen went black. In a fit of aggravation, River threw the remote against the wall and sunk back down, defeated. She began to cry and the tears wouldn't stop coming. She had seen him at Trenzalore through the TARDIS's telepathic link. Since that link had then been tied with Clara as well, she was able to semi-materialize, only to Clara though since the link was still active at the time. She had disappeared because the Clara who had the telepathic link with the TARDIS had be split into a million pieces, thus breaking the link between her and the TARDIS.

But now she had properly seen him. Something she hadn't done for a very long time. A look of recognition from the get go on his face made her hearts leap. River wanted to go back and just freeze the moment that they saw each other through the screen for forever. But she couldn't and she didn't know when she'd see him next.

xxxx

As soon as the screen shut back down the Doctor went to work. He frantically pressed keys on the keyboard and each time access to CAL was denied. He groaned and ran a hand frantically through his brown hair before typing once more. He didn't know exactly what he had pressed in the first place to link him with the screen River had been looking through and he was determined to find it again. His hearts ached at the fact that he didn't say anything back to her. Her frantic shouting only put him into further shock that she was talking to him from wherever she was. He wanted to say something, to let her know it was going to be okay, but he couldn't.

The Doctor heard footsteps behind him and turned around. He saw Clara and Terra standing there looking at him funny. "What?" He asked a little harsher than he had meant it to sound.

"What were you doing just there?" Clara asked.

The Doctor shook his head, "Nothing, are you two ready to go?"

Terra tilted her head to the side, "What were you doing, you're evading. What were you doing?" She asked sternly.

"Terra, it's not important. If you're both ready to go why don't we get back to the TARDIS?" The Doctor began to moved and came upon a node, as it turned around he was faced with CAL.

"Message for the Doctor. Message follows: 'Doctor, please, Doctor please if you can hear me, go to where we last stood together. Find my screwdriver and my diary and stand there.' Message ends." The node was silent and turned back around.

And the Doctor would be damned if he didn't do what he knew his wife had just asked him.

xxxx

Charlotte slowly walked back into the room to find a crying River on the floor. "River?" She asked. She crouched down next to the woman. "River, what's wrong?" She asked. She stroked the mass of curls atop River's head in concern.

"Nothing... dear..." She looked up, her eyes were swollen and tears were still running down her cheeks, "I just... saw someone I thought I'd never see again." River wiped her eyes and then took Charlotte's hands, "Charlotte, sweetie, I'll be fine." She said.

"My name is not Charlotte." The girl replied and stood straight.

River lifted her head up and looked at the girl in confusion. "What?"

"My name is not Charlotte, my name is Clara." The good began to glitch and fade in and out. As she settled, a taller figure appear, long brown hair, red dress, utility belt, flower in her hair, and loud red sneakers.

River couldn't believe her eyes, Clara now stood before her. Impossible. "But..."

Clara smiled at the older woman, "Aren't I a clever girl?"

xxxx

"Doctor, Doctor what the hell was that thing?" Terra exclaimed as she and Clara followed after the Doctor.

"Terra, no time to explain." He began to look frantically down the halls. He grinned, "Yes, right where I left it!" The Doctor reached behind a book and pulled out an old book and a sonic screwdriver.

The two girls continued to follow the Doctor in confusion until Clara stopped. Terra turned around, "Clara, Clara what's wrong?" She asked frantically.

A single tear fell down the girl's cheek, "Doctor, I can't go any further." She said, her throat tight.

The Doctor was becoming very frustrated. "Why?"

"Because, you know how when I went into your time stream and now there's echos of me all across time and space? There's an echo of me here. In the Library." Clara swallowed hard.

"Well it's a whole planet I'm sure if we make this quick we can avoid the echo, no problem! No paradox! Come on then!" He grinned, trying to cheer her up.

"Doctor, that's going to be very hard to do. I know where we're going, we're going to the main computer. Its data core. I'm the data core. My echo here is CAL."

The Doctor stepped towards Clara and put his hands on her arms, "Go bac to the TARDIS and wait till we're back aboard alright? Use the TARDIS's phone to call Terra's cellphone if anything goes wrong or you need us alright?" He watched Clara nod, "Good. We'll see you soon." He said and kissed Clara on the head and let her walk away.

As they went the opposite directions, Terra couldn't help but ask, "Doctor, what do she mean by echo?" She asked.

"I'll explain that later." The Doctor said and scurried off down a hallway.

Terra kept up decently with her father, she was quite annoyed at his vagueness and when a beam of energy came up from the floor she gave him a 'You've gotta be kidding me' look. She let him take her down the lift and into a room. When they finally reached a room full of a lot of wires and panels and screens Terra stood back as her father Sonic'd the various panels until he reached a large computer with a node near it.

"What's going on?" She asked quietly.

"Your mother has a message for us."

The node turned around and River's face appeared on it. Terra looked away, no, she couldn't put a face with the name of the woman, now dead, that gave her away without a second thought. Terra wrapped her arms around herself tightly and waited till her father was done.

"Message for the Doctor. Message follows 'Doctor, go to page 233 in my diary'." The Doctor quickly did as he was told. The entry he read was just after Manhattan. He remembered the night. The night she needed after just losing her parents. She recalled it in the entry and revealed she found out she was pregnant. How scared she was and what her plans were. "... 'Next page, Doctor. The lock of hair. My hai'." The node mimicking River said.

The Doctor looked and found no hair. He frowned. He knew what he had to do. "Terra!" He said and scurried over to his daughter, "Need a lock of your hair." He plucked it rather forcefully from her head despite her cries of pain. "Thank you." The Doctor rushed back over to where the node was a opened up a disc-type drive that had a petri dish in it instead. The Doctor placed Terra's hair in it and the dish went back into the database. The Doctor sonic'd a few panels and pressed a few buttons before a rather bright beam came from the node. After the light was gone. There stood Clara.

"Doctor, I can save River this time. I'll take a break from saving you, Chin Boy. Give me the hair in her diary and I can restore her fully from within the date core." Clara explained.

"There is no hair, I had to use Terra's hair because that has River's DNA in it." The Doctor replied.

Clara sighed, "Rule one." She said. "Flip through the book."

The Doctor did so and about twenty pages back from where he had been instructed to look originally, there was that curly lock of hair. He took it out and smiled at how nice it felt between his fingers. Soon though, he'd get to feel that entire mass of curls on River's head. He handed the lock to Clara and nodded. A bright light shone from the node again and he covered his eyes. When the light ceased, his River, just as she stood in Trenzalore before him, was standing there. He let her settle into the environment once more before going to her and wrapping her in his arms.

"Hello, my love." River said against his neck. "It's been quite the while, I never thought you'd do this. I could've coped if you hadn't." She pulled back and smiled up at him. "So when are we. Trenzalore yet?"

"We're linear, River. Time holds us no more." The Doctor said and leaned down to kiss her lips. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and just as his lips had ghosted over hers, rapid footsteps and crying sounded. He looked over to see Terra's shadow escaping them and sighed. "Terra..." The Doctor murmured under his breath.

"Terra, our daughter. Doctor, you found our daughter?" River said with an elated smile.

The Doctor nodded, "She was in New York, brilliant, fiery student much like her mother. I recognized the Gallifreyan writing on her necklace. Nice touch, honey." He bopped her nose. "She has your hair." He said with a laugh. "But insists on straightening it then curling it how she pleases." The Doctor laughed again and stood to River's side. He slid an arm around her waist, "Lets go home."

xxxx

Terra rushed back up the way they came and banged on the TARDIS doors, "Clara! Clara open up its me, Terra."

The TARDIS door opened and Terra rushed inside. "My mum, he brought her back." Terra said, her voice thick and her eyes filled with tears.

Clara took in the disheveled state of her friend and wrapped her in a hug, "It's going to be okay, you've got your mum back now. I'd do anything to have my mum back. Give her a chance." Clara said and pulled back. She wiped the tears away from Terra's face and smiled reassuringly, "Come along, lets get you washed up." Clara took the girl's arm and led her back to the bathroom.

xxxx

As they were walking back to the TARDIS, a man approached them.

"Are you the D-D-D-Doctor?" He stuttered out.

The old Time Lord tilted his head to the side, no, he couldn't be, could he?

"I am." The Doctor replied.

"Are you still fr-fr-friends, with D-D-Donna?" The man asked.

The Doctor swallowed, "No. Something happened and I had to wipe her memories, including her memories of you. I'm sorry, but I can't help you, Lee."

Lee frowned, "Please. Take me to her, if anything, we-we can-can fall in l-l-love again. Memories or-or-or not." Lee was practically begging the Doctor now.

The Doctor looked at his wife, he got this wonderful second chance with her, Lee deserved the same. "Come along. We'll take you to her. But you can not speak a word of your memories with her or of me. She will die if she does. Do you understand?"

Lee nodded and they were off.

xxxx

That night, Clara had gone to bed, Lee had been given a room for the night as the TARDIS created new records for him in the 21st century instead of the 51st, and River had retired to what was once again, her and the Doctor's bedroom. When she first walked in, it looked as if it hadn't been used in decades. And it hadn't. Once he wished her goodbye before her trip to the Library, he sealed off that room and used another room just down the hall if he really desperately needed rest or a solitary place to think. The TARDIS had cleared away the due that had collected on the furniture and reopened their rather bigger on the inside closet. She had gotten a nightgown and bathed as the Doctor set off to did Terra. And he did, in her own bedroom.

The Doctor knocked quietly, "Terra, are you in there?" The Doctor asked.

Terra groaned as her father knocked on the door; she clearly didn't want to be disturbed.

The door opened and the Doctor walked in and smiled. "Heard a noise thought it was 'Come in, dad' so here I am." He sat down on the bed where his daughter lay burrowed into the mass of covers. "Do you at least want to know why she abandoned you?"

Terra turned in the bed and faced her father. "Why?" She asked. Her voice was hoarse and it was clear she had been crying.

"Around the time of your birth, your mother had just lost her parents a few months before that. She didn't really know what to do, how to take care of you, or even how to support you. She had her job at the University yes, but archaeology was no place for a baby. She had made a lot of enemies, mostly because of me and she didn't want you wrapped into that at such a young age. She wasn't going to risk your life because of hers. So she gave you up for adoption and hoped you'd be safer on Earth."

Terra felt her blood boiling by the end. Archaeology no place for a baby? Traveling around in a big blue box with infinite rooms and two protective parents hovering over her would have been putting her life in danger? Terra groaned and collapsed back against the bed. "She doesn't know the first thing about what it feels like to think your parents wanted nothing to do with you. That they loved you so little they just dropped you on the doorstep that launched forth a life of foster homes. I was lucky I was smart. I did so well in my science classes I got a full ride to NYU. Without that, I'd be some knocked up teenager repeating what I thought would have been a viscous cycle my mother had started for me." Terra closed her to collect her thoughts. "If she's looking for acceptance to an apology for her abandoning me, she's not gonna get one."

The Doctor stood back up, "I'll have you know, Terra Elizabeth Song, your mother knows damn well what it's like to be bounced around and forgotten. She was raised from birth, to kill me. She grew up without her parents raising her, she died in New York from a disease and was fourtunate enough to be adopted by a family in the same town her parents were then growing up in. So in a way she got to grow up with her parents but they never got to kiss away her injuries or sing her lullabies that only they knew. No, and then because she was conceived aboard the TARDIS she has human plus time lord DNA like you. So she outlived her parents, by a lot. Their deaths are fixed points so she can never see them again. Now you, Terra, get to see your mother for the first time since birth. You get to see her every day from now on. Do not take that for granted. She is your mother as has only done what she knew a mother would do and that's protect their child."

Terra listened to his every word and swallowed hard, she and her mother weren't very different. She slowly rose from the bed and went to her father who had gotten up and had begun to pace during his rant. "Can I see her now?" She asked quietly.

The Doctor only replied with a soft upturn of his lips.

xxxx

The Doctor felt strange about knocking on his own bedroom door, but he wanted to be polite to River. "Umm, River, are you decent?" The Doctor asked.

"I can be indecent if you'd like me to sweetie, just give me a moment!" River called from inside the room.

"No, no, I have someone who wants to see you but not that much of you. Keep your clothes on for the moment." The Doctor turned to his daughter, "You're sure you want to do this?" He asked and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Yes." Terra replied with a smile.

"Alright." The Doctor opened the door and held Terra's hand in the other as she walked behind him.

River's back was to them as she fastened the tie of her robe over her nightgown. She turned around and her breath hitched. Next to her husband stood her daughter. Oh her little baby girl all grown up. Her hair was done in a messy bun atop her head and a few loose curls fell to either side of Terra's face. She wore a plain long sleeves grey shirt and plaid pajama bottoms. Oh the Doctor was right, her hair and his cheekbones. River slowly stepped towards her daughter and continued to study her quietly. She gently reached up to cup her daughter's cheeks, as if to solidify that she was real. River gently turned her daughter's head at angles to get a better look at her face and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "Terra..." Was all she could get out.

"Hi... mum." Terra replied. Within an instant the two fell into a tight embrace and Terra clung to River quite powerfully. Terra cried into her mother's shoulder and breathed in her scent. She was being held by her mother. Took her long enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I was having soo many feels at the end of this. I didn't know whether or not to keep Terra really closed off and angsty and be like "me no want to see my mommy" but I felt after the Doctor's rant plus Clara and Terra's chat I had her ease up and ugh all the feels. I hope you liked it! Please review and tell me what you think of the fic or if you have any suggestions!
> 
> See you later!
> 
> Mari


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about this. I've had this chapter posted for like forever on fanfiction.net but yet I never posted it here! So sorry you guys! Here it is!

After a good five minutes after the two women began hugging, they finally pulled apart.

River spoke first, "You've grown into a very beautiful woman, Terra." River said with a smile. "I'm so sorry for the years I missed." 

"I understand why now." Terra said and moved back in to rest her head on her mother's shoulder.

River rubbed her daughter's back as looked at the Doctor, "Sweetie give us a half an hour alright?" 

The Doctor nodded and smiled as he shut the bedroom door and went down the hall.

Terra breathed in her mother's scent, she smelled just like she thought she would. "I can call you mom right?"

"Of course you can, sweetie." River replied.

Terra felt a lump of guilt form in her throat. "Do you think he'd be okay with me calling him dad?" Terra asked quietly.

"Oh sweetie, I think he'd love that."

Terra swallowed hard, "Umm are you sure? I mean he goes around the universe saving thousands of people...."

"Sweetie stop and look at me." River said and pulled her daughter's attention to her. "He may save all the people in the universe but at the end of the day, you are his daughter, you are his flesh and blood." 

Terra looked down and then back up, she bit her lip. "I just..." 

"Shh. Just trust me on this one." River said and wrapped her daughter tightly back into her arms.

xxxx

The next day, Terra walked into the console room and blinked rapidly. "Okay, it did not look like this last night what happened? Am I still in the right place?" The TARDIS hummed pleasantly in response.

The Doctor appeared from the other side of the console that was not visible in Terra's line of sight. "Good morning, Terra!" He nearly skipped over to her and kissed her on the head. "Yes you are! I changed the desktop, it was a little glum before..."

"It looked like a nightclub on anti-depressants, Doctor." Terra interjected.

"Yes well, with our family reunited, I thought, why not?" He shrugged. "Everyone is in the kitchen for breakfast. Shall we head in there?" 

Terra bit her lip, "I'm actually not very hungry and I really have to be home so could you take me there?"

The Doctor's features saddened. "Yes, of course. NYU correct?" He watched Terra nod and went over to punch in the coordinates.

After Terra had gotten her things and left the Doctor made his way to the kitchen. River saw his glum look and walked over to him. 

"Sweetie, what's wrong? Where's Terra?"

"She wasn't hungry and needed to go home. So I dropped her off." He said and looked away.

River brought his attention back when she touched the sides of his faces with her fingertips. "She's gone?"

"Yes. I'm afraid so."

"I see, well, we can always have our first breakfast as a family some other time. Besides you have to drop Lee and Clara off." River began to put her walls back up at the news of her daughter leaving without a word.

"Yes, I'll go see if the TARDIS is done with Lee's paperwork." The Doctor replied and exited the kitchen.

xxxx

Terra dropped her bag onto the floor and collapsed onto her bed. She traced the circles and lines of her necklace and closed her eyes. She knew she shouldn't have left like that but she barely knew what it was like to have a family and she did what knew to do. Run. She was brought out of her thoughts by a knock on the door. She got up and smiled sadly at the sight of the person on the other side of the door.

"Come in. I don't really care about dorm policy right now. I just need you."

xxxx

The Doctor landed the TARDIS in Chiswick and looked at Lee. "Well, you have all you need to start a life here. The TARDIS has taken the money you had in the 51st century in the Library and transferred it into Earth's 21st century currency. That is in your bag along with your driver's license. Now remember, Donna cannot remember anything about me even for a second or she could die. Neither of us want that, right?" The doctor asked.

"No.. No I d-d-d-don't, Doctor. I understand, thank you so much. I'm going to get my Donna." Lee grinned and made his way out the TARDIS door.

"Sweetie." River said from behind the Doctor.

He turned around as the door shut and looked at his wife. "Yes?"

"You know we need to go get her." River replied.

The Doctor placed his hands on his wife's arms, "Yes. I know."

xxxx

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. They just sort of crashes back into my life." Terra started and curled up on her bed. As she laid there, her head was resting on his chest. His heartbeat was such a soothing background noise.

“I don’t really know how you feel, Terra. I know that’s a terrible thing to say but I’ve always had my parents, yeah my childhood wasn’t perfect but... we just grew up differently, Terra.” He placed a soothing kiss to her hairline and continued, “but maybe they just want the best for you. Did you really think running from them was the best?”

“I have a life, Jameson.” She sat up, “One I just can’t up and walk out on. And it’s a lot more complicated than you think.” Terra hadn’t really told him the whole thing about that she’s part alien and that her father is a time traveling alien who lives in a police box that is bigger on the inside and her mother was just brought back from the dead and that she doesn’t age. According to her father, unless she spends copious amounts of time on Earth, decades at the least, her aging will continue to be like a Time Lord’s because she’s been exposed to the Time Vortex. She hadn’t been exposed to it as a child other than the split second with her mother and her mother’s vortex manipulator so she aged like an Earth child. 

Jameson sat up with her and crossed his arms, “If it’s so complicated please explain it to me. I would love to hear what you have to say.” Jameson’s brow rose and waited for her to explain.

“My family isn’t normal.. and I know what you’re going to say, no family is normal. Which is true, but mine REALLY isn’t normal. Jameson, I don’t really know how else to put this. My father is a time traveling alien and my mother is part human-part alien who was just brought back from the dead and I’m part human and part alien. Just, we look like everyone else. My father is from a planet called Gallifrey that no longer exists and my mother has two human parents but was conceived in what’s called the Time Vortex and so she has the same alien DNA that my father has species wise and so that makes me twenty five percent human and seventy-five percent time lord which is what my father is. He travels around in this big blue box that is bigger on the inside and goes to these incredible places. He goes to planets and saves them, he comes here on earth and saves us all the time. All the crazy stuff you hear about, that people just brush off as not happening, happened. He did that. He has saved Earth so many times and has saved so many world.” Terra sucked in a deep breath for air and closed her eyes. Her head tilted down in preparation for Jameson’s reaction.

“So... you’re an alien? Like a little green monster that wants to invade Earth.” Jameson said. It was the first thing he could think of.

Terra’s head shot up and her eyes filled with anger, “That’s a horrible stereotype! Do I look like a little green monster wanting to invade Earth? I grew up here! I aged like everyone else. I didn’t even know I wasn’t completely human till he stopped me in the library a week ago to tell me. I’ve been gone for a week, Jameson. But I asked him to send me back to just a few hours after he took me so people didn’t go crazy thinking I was missing!” She shoved his chest enough to make a point but not enough to make him fall off the bed. “I can’t believe after everything we’ve gone through together you’re running because my DNA is different. You slept with me thinking I was just like you and I still am, it’s just the science of me that’s different. I am still me, no matter what I am made of. If that’s not good enough for you that’s the damn door, go.” She said and pointed to the door.

Jameson was silent for a minute, processing all the information, “I’m sorry, this is just a lot to take in.” Jameson slowly made his way to her on the bed and gently took her hands in his, “I still want to be with you. I know we’ve had some issues in the past on what to call this since we were such good friends before and then we slept together and now it’s confusing but I just want you.” Jameson let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her, “I just want us. I think we wants this to be something stable more than we realize and it scares me but...” He was cut off by her lips meeting his. Jameson cupped the back of Terra’s head, burying his fingers in her curls and slowly pulled back with a smile. “But I think I’m falling in love with you.”

xxxx

As the TARDIS began to materialize, Terra shot up in bed. She quickly covered herself with her sheet as Jameson lay next to her snoring. Terra couldn't believe they landed in her dorm of all places! She quickly grabbed her robe from the floor and slipped it on before the door opened.

Her mother stepped out first and gave her a knowing look with a smirk and Terra simply rolled her eyes. When her father stepped out he clamped his hand over his eyes.

"No no, I'm going back inside till more people are dressed." The Doctor turned around, hoping that he’d managed to get back inside the TARDIS without smacking into it. The Doctor was not so lucky; he smacked right into the side of the TARDIS next to the open door.

Terra let out a small chuckle and watched her father go back inside and slam the door. She quickly refocused on what was going on. “Mom, I...” She began.

River waved it off, “No, no. Believe me...” She began as she slowly walked towards her daughter and took her hands in her own. “I know how you feel. You wouldn’t believe the stories I could tell you where this has happened to me.”

Terra cringed and shook her head, “I’d rather not know the stories.”

“Suit yourself.” River said and shrugged her shoulders.

A groan came from the bed and Terra turned her head towards the noise.

“Terra?” Jameson asked. He slowly sat up. His whole stature was laced with sleep.

“Hey...” She replied with a bright smile. She broke away from her mother and sat on the bed. “Babe, do you think that you might be able to come back later? Just go get dressed in my bathroom and we’ll catch coffee later?” She kissed the side of his head. 

Jameson was still groggy, “Yeah sure... hey, is that your mom? She’s hot.” He really didn’t know what he was saying which made River giggled from behind them. He sat up, completely naked and grabbed for his boxers, effectively mooning both Terra and River.  
Terra shook her head as he made his way with the rest of his clothes to Terra’s bathroom. She turned back to her mother and stood. “I’m sorry about him.”

“I’m certainly not, he has a nice backside, Terra. Good on you.” River replied, smirking.

Terra rolled her eyes, “I told him everything and then he said he wanted more between him and I and then that happened. Then you crash landed in my dorm room. Which I don’t appreciate by the way, why are you here?” She asked and placed a hand on her hip. 

River frowned, “Your father told me you left. Why did you run, Terra? You don’t have anything to be afraid of.”

“I have everything to be afraid of.” She replied. “I have school and him, and a whole life before you guys and then you all literally drop out of the sky and tell me I’m family and think everything is gonna be hunky dory now but it’s not. I still don’t know what I am with Jameson and I love him. I don’t know how he feels exactly, he said he’s in love with me but I don’t know and then I’ve never had a proper mom and dad and so it’s very new and very scary. I was abandoned my whole life without knowing how loved I’d end up being.” 

River didn’t know what to say to that. It had been decades since she saw her parents, nearly a century and it hurt to not feel their warm embrace even if she saw them every once in a while to begin with. Now she had left her daughter in the same position and she wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. No more history repeating itself. She would be damned if she left Terra feel like her parents would just always pop in and out of her life. She and the Doctor would be present in Terra’s life. No one could come in between that if it would be the last thing she’d do. Slowly River wrapped her arms around her daughter and kissed the top of her head. “Sweetie, we will always be here for you, when you need us.”


	5. 8675309

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello there! Long time no talk y'all! So sorry to keep you waiting but life has been crazy. I'm at uni now and actually have a lot more time on my hands than I did before so without further ado here is chapter five! Expect weekly updates!

Terra woke up with a headache, it was pounding from crying so much the night before. When she realized her surroundings, she noticed the mass of curls that stuck in her face. Her mother. She finally had a mother. After all these years she had a mother she could snuggle up with and watch some sappy chick flick for the hell of it. Her mother was here and her mother was real. There was not a better feeling in the world than the one she felt right this moment.

“Terra?” She heard a croaked voice, drowned in sleep ask.

“Mom?” She peeked one eye open again, closing them to revel in the feeling of the moment.

The mass of curls moved and River sat up in the bed. “Darling you slept, we both did for quite some time.” River said with a bright smile on her face.

“I guess we did.” Terra rubbed her temples and wiped her eyes. Falling asleep after crying your eyes out was never a fun way to fall asleep. She pulled her phone off the charger and looked at the time. “OH SHIT. I’m late for class.” She said and threw back the covers and proceeded to throw on whatever clean clothes she could find. “Damn.” 

River sat up in the bed and tried to get her curls out of her face and looked at her daughter, “You have time travelers for parents you could never be late for anything.” 

Terra turned around slowly, “I’m not letting you fly the TARDIS twenty minutes in the past just so I’m not late for my class.”

River looked at her pointedly, “We can bring you back to present time after your class is over.”

Terra sighed, “I have no choice in the matter, do I?

“No not really.” River smirked and let Terra finish getting ready and then pulled out her phone to call The Doctor. He had left with the TARDIS and parked it on the roof of Terra’s residence hall and put the invisible circuit on (the only one he’s managed to get working, thanks to River.) Now Terra heard the wheezing coming in and out until the TARDIS completely materialized in her room. She was thankful for having a private room or else the stupid box would have never fit. 

Terra stepped on after grabbing her backpack and River stepped on behind her. She smiled at her father and murmured ‘Good morning’ before going to the railing near the console and leaning on it. She watched as her father puttered around the console, pressing buttons and pulling on levers and River proceeded to follow and correct him as he went. She giggled at their dynamic and just simply sat back and watched the spectacle. Terra felt the TARDIS shift and she held onto the railing as her father put in coordinates and her mother bickered at him that he was doing it wrong.

“Sweetie no that’s not the right button!” River said and stepped back to steady herself as the TARDIS jerked and groaned.

Terra felt the shift and held onto the railing as the TARDIS made a lot of noises and hurled towards some destination. She figured they were going through the time vortex and it was just a bumpy ride. She really hoped they were going through the time vortex.

When the TARDIS finally settled the Doctor ran over to the door and flew it open, he looked around a little and shut it back. “Oh well nope sorry wrong place. My bad. Let’s get you back to NYU shall we?”

“We’re not there?”

“Nope, my apologies, old girl must have got the coordinates wrong.” He walked over to the console but River was already walking towards the door.

River reached for the handle, “What’s the harm in looking around a little, we can still take her back to before her class starts.” She put her hand around the door jam and the Doctor shouted.

“Oh no, come on! Let’s just get her back there! Our daughter’s education is very important and I wouldn’t want her to miss an opportunity for learning.” The Doctor said, starting to sweat now.

River eyed him, “She can learn about whatever we find outside these doors, it’s time she’s learned about some knowledge other than the things humans know. Come Terra, we can even take notes if your education is really that important to your father.”

“Nope nope environment’s not safe, can’t breathe once you step out those doors.”

“Oh really? Are you quite sure about that?” River walked over to the console and looked at a couple screens before staring back at the Doctor, “These screens here say that the air is perfectly breathable. The atmosphere is fairly fresh and balanced.”

“Yes well…” He rubbed the back of his neck.

River walked up to him and got straight in his face, “What aren’t you telling me, sweetie.”

Fear filled his eyes as his wife confronted him. “Now, River… you said you had only met me a couple of times while I was in my last body… there’s one instance, from my last body… that I’ve never told you about. There was a woman…” He started backing up, walking around the console. “Young girl, cheeky girl, little bit Clara, little bit Terra…” River’s face only twisted in more anger. “She was peppy and ready to get her hands dirty…” He managed to walk down the steps backwards and over to the door as he spoke and River never missed a beat. “And well you see… she was special…” River’s eyebrows shot up and she put her hands on her hips. The Doctor reached behind him for the handle and opened it a little bit before quickly turning his back and throwing it open entirely. “And she was my daughter.”

There on the other side of the door, stood Jenny staring in disbelief at the TARDIS. Her eyes fell to the man as the door opened and she tilted her head, looking him up and down, “Sorry… must have the wrong one of these things…” She said and turned around.

“Jenny wait!” The Doctor said. “It’s me… but how are you you… they said you weren’t completely me and you died.”

Jenny turned around, excitement filling her, “You must have changed your face, they told me you did that! I’m more like you than you thought, dad, I healed and went running off looking for you. I had no means of time travel but I’ve been combing every bit of space looking for you. Seems like you’ve found me!” She said and ran to him, hugging him tight. “Missed you.”

“Missed you too, you don’t look much older, how long has it been for you?” He pulled away and looked at his daughter.

Jenny smiled, “Bout a year, give or take.” She said. “I came back to Messaline after all the running I’ve been doing. The humans and Hath have really cleaned this place up, don’t you think?”

The Doctor looked past her and nodded, “Yes right well wonderful seeing you Jenny.”

“Are you leaving?” She asked with sad eyes. She looked into the TARDIS and saw two women, “Those weren’t your two friends you had with you before, who are they?”

River, slightly steamed about this new information, spoke up, “I’m his wife and she,” River said and pointed to Terra who was close to tears, “Is our daughter.” 

Jenny’s jaw dropped open slightly. “Oh. I see. Wow, dad it’s been quite some time for you then, eh?” She asked.

“Yes, well I’ve only recently met Terra and River and I well… that’s a longer story for another time. Would you like to come inside?” 

Jenny walked inside and stood awkwardly next to the Doctor as Terra stayed up by the console unmoved. River walked over to Jenny and the Doctor and placed a hand on her hip, “Doctor, explain exactly how you had a daughter but never mentioned it to me. In private if you don’t mind.” She said and tugged on his arm and dragged him back towards the kitchen.

Terra pulled out her phone when her parents left to scroll through her pictures so she’d look like she was busy doing something so Jenny wouldn’t talk to her.

“Terra, he said your name was? I guess this means we’re sisters.” Jenny said and walked up to the console.

Terra looked up at her and stood, her pose defensive, “You aren’t my sister. My father and your father are two different men and we don’t have the same mother, you aren’t my sister and you never will be. I just got them back after being abandoned my whole life. They abandoned me thinking that that would somehow protect me but instead it just gave me a lot of personal issues to work through and I just got them back. I don’t know what you want with my father, but he’s not your father.”

Jenny’s eyes widened at the girl’s boldness, she was speaking from a very dark place Jenny couldn’t quite grasp. “I’m sorry?”

“You should be and you should walk right back out there to whatever life you were living before this big blue box showed up.”

“I don’t think it’s that easy.” Jenny replied.

“I bet you’re up for the challenged.” Terra said.

xxxx

“Who the hell is that? Who is her mother? Why have you never spoken of her?” River was steaming, if her hair was as red as her mood, it would be on fire.

The Doctor held his hands up, “Now, now River… you see in my previous body we landed on this planet and immediately they stuck my hand in something that extracted DNA and from that produced a fully grown human girl. Jenny. There was a war going on between the Hath and the Humans that inhabited this planet, at the end of it all Jenny sacrificed herself to save me and we all thought she died because she didn’t heal or regenerate, not right away. And I didn’t know she had healed herself at all.”

River listened to him as best she could without wanting to take the bowtie that hung around his neck and pull. “So, there was no mother?”

“River Song are you jealous?” The Doctor asked and straightened his posture. “Oh you’re jealous.” He began to laugh. “She’s jealous!” He said to himself.

River looked at him, annoyed, “Don’t get too cocky, I just… felt like I needed to know if you had anymore children running around or an ex that wants to stake their claim on you.” She draped her arms around his neck, “That’s my job.” She pecked his lips.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around River’s waist and pressed his forehead to hers. “It always will be your job, I promise.” He kissed her nose and pulled away. “Now lets go see what Jenny and Terra have gotten up to!”

“HE IS MY FATHER.”

“NO HE’S NOT.”

“YES, HE IS AND HE WILL ALWAYS BE NO MATTER WHAT FACE HE’S GOT.”

“NO HIS LAST BODY FATHERED YOU, THEREFORE THAT IS YOUR FATHER. HE IS MY FATHER AND MY FATHER ALONE.”

“YOU ARE SO FULL OF IT.”

Two feminine voices arguing were all that was heard as River and the Doctor stepped back into the console room. They exchanged glances and the Doctor dared to say, “Good thing you didn’t have twins.”

“Oh I would have come straight from the hospital and hung you by your bowtie if that had happened sweetie.” River replied.

“Ladies, ladies, no need to fight over me, plenty of Doctor to go around.” The Doctor said.

Both women turned their heads and gave the Doctor death glares, he immediately backed up and ended up bumping into River. 

“You’re on your own with this one, sweetie.” River went up to the controls and poked around at few buttons, turned off the breaks and then settled in to watch the spectacle. 

Terra finally broke the silence after a lot of staring and death glaring. “I want to go home. Take me back to NYU, Doctor.” Terra glared at him with teary eyed. 

The Doctor stepped back, mouth agape and eyes hurt as he gazed upon his brunette daughter. She was so upset, there was such a desperation in her eyes just to be accepted and to be home but he knew how she was feeling. She was doing so well with how things were going and then once again, her life felt uprooted, just as it had been her whole life. She had her parents back but it came with consequences obviously.

Terra’s face was contorted in sadness still and her father just stared at her. He did not move, just looked at her with sad panda eyes.

River couldn’t take this nonsense, she went over to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her, “Terra, I’ll go make you some tea and we can talk or something in your room.” She ushered her daughter away and led her upstairs to the kitchen.

Jenny looked at her father and sighed, “Should I go, dad?” She asked.

The Doctor sighed, “Terra has been through a lot, Jenny. I’m not sure she needs a sister right now, especially one so willing to stake claim on me. She just wants I suppose, us to herself for a while, she’s been without River and I her whole life. You had me from the start.”

“But I lost you too.” She countered.

“But you had me. You knew I existed, you were okay with being alone. Right now Terra isn’t.” He pulled his daughter into a hug, “you don’t have to leave but Terra really does need us right now, so I’m not too sure what to do.”

Jenny pulled back, “do you think that maybe I could stay here with you and just give you and your wife time with Terra?”

“That would be lovely, Jenny.” He replied. “I promise we’ll go on as many adventures as your heart desire but I do really need to make sure Terra is okay.”

“Of course. You’re still my dad right? Even though you know, you’re different…”

The Doctor frowned, did she really doubt his love as well? “Jenny you have always been my daughter and always be, there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I haven’t thought about you or wished I could have done something to heal you.”

“Don’t blame yourself, dad, I was kind of dead, but then I healed. Important thing is, we’re both here now, right?”

“Right. I’ll show you to your room.” He said and motioned his hand towards the stairs.

xxx

Terra gripped a tissue in her hand as she cried into her mother’s shoulder, “He just stood there like a stupid idiot. Why didn’t he know what to do? Doesn’t he always know what to do?”

River had been consoling her daughter for the last ten minutes, rubbing her arm in soothing motions, providing her with as many tissues as she needed, and let her cry on her shoulder. “Oh sweetie… he’s new at all this and well, as opposed to popular opinion, he doesn’t know everything and one of the things he’s least experienced in is parenthood.” River said. “Believe me he’s like the twelve year old he looks like. He’s so new to this please just give him time.”

“Time is all he has, mom! Time is all he knows!” She rubbed her teary eyes furiously. “He’s over a thousand years old but doesn’t know how to be a parent, that’s really sad. In a very bad way.” Terra said angrily. “Do you know how many people I know that are my age that have kids? They know how to be parents, to some degree. It’s pathetic and then he’s over there all hugging on and being comfortable with some daughter he got out of a war experiment like a damn twenty five cent claw machine.”

River never liked seeing Terra so upset, she had just found a week ago after all those years apart. She kissed the top of her head and sighed when there was a knock on the door, “She doesn’t want to speak to you.” Yet the door opened anyways.

“All the doors are metal here, no wood to stop me from sonicing the door open!” The Doctor said, trying to lighten the mood. “Can I speak to Terra alone for a moment?”

“If you make her cry again, I’m going back to NYU with her.” River warned and kissed her daughter’s head one last time before getting up and leaving the room.

“Terra…” The Doctor began, “I am so sorry, really sorry, I didn’t even think I’d see Jenny again, I thought she had died and well I had you…”

“So I’m just a replacement for that blonde bimbo that calls herself your daughter? What just cause she’s got an accent and I don’t and she’s more Gallifreyan than I am she suddenly gets special treatment? I’ll never be good enough to be your daughter. Why are you even bothering?”

The Doctor paced back and forth a bit before throwing his hands around and saying, “Because you are my daughter! Because I’m just so mad at myself for not knowing about you in the first place! With Jenny yes I was surprised and bam I had a fully adult daughter but with you, you grew up without me, without knowing me, without me knowing you and I hate that. I hate that so much! There are thousands of things I can back and change, little things that don’t really matter and even big things somehow still end up alright but the one thing I can’t believe I’ve never tried to fix was making sure you knew you were loved and cared for by your parents.”

Terra sat there, listening to his big speech, she tried her tears that were lingering on her face and finally found her words, “Why didn’t you? Why didn’t you ever come and get me?”

“Well me personally in my own future I’m not sure. You might be with me, I hope you and your mother both are, and so I wouldn’t want to mess anything up really badly by having you as a child around you now. It wouldn’t be good for the fabric of time.” He said, “But I promise you Terra, for every year I spent apart from you, from every moment I spent without being your father, I will be there for you and tenfold.” He sat on the bed next to her and cupped her face in his hands. “Do you hear me?”

Terra smiled weakly and nodded, “I do, dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we are! As always leave your comments/thoughts/kudos!


	6. Earthbound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 6! Enjoy y'all!

Fingers drummed on the nightstand and River put the book she was reading in her lap after marking her place. She took off her glasses and looked to her right at her husband. “Yes, sweetie?”

The Doctor stopped the tapping and sighed heavily. “River, I think it’s time we talked about this. About us, about our daughter.”

River knew this conversation would come one day but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to talk about it yet. Especially after such an emotional day with Terra. “Well… what all do you need to know?” She asked.

“When did you find out you were pregnant with her?” He gently took one of her hands in his.

The blonde shook her head, “Sweetie, don’t do this to yourself.” She saw his pleading eyes and looked away for a moment, “It was, shortly after my parents… died… were sent back in time… I couldn’t believe how alone I felt. I knew I had to leave you be, let you go off save the world, you had too many enemies to take on a child as well so I just never told you. I had too many enemies on my own and by association with you so I knew I could never keep her. I was taking back my position at the Luna University as the Archaeology professor and worked all throughout my pregnancy. It was hard but at least I knew I was somewhere stable, somewhere safe for her not to be harmed while I was pregnant. I gave birth to her and even though I held her and nursed her for the first few weeks, I knew I had to give her away. Time travel was far too dangerous for a newborn. It killed me each and every day I kept her and took care of her, knowing she’d grow up without me or you. When I thought she was old enough, only about a month or two old, I took her down to earth. I grew up there, but I didn’t want her to have any chance of finding out anything about us or where she came from so I dropped her off in America. New York. Funny how that’s where I ended up before I was brought to Leadworth.” She licked her lips and shifted a little in the bed. “I had that necklace made because I knew if anything went wrong, if she needed us without knowing it, you’d find her. You’d know her.”

The Doctor listened to his wife talk about why she gave Terra up, when she found out, and he had to suppress anger that bubbled inside of him. He missed out on a lot of his daughter’s life all because River deemed them both unfit parents. He could have handled it. He could have been there for her, raised Terra once River died, maybe bring her back sooner since he would have had Terra with him. But he wouldn’t rewrite a single line with River. Not one. And he wouldn’t rewrite a single line he’s had with Terra. He’s here for her now, and he’s here for River now. Time holds them no more and they can finally be a family, a weird, timey wimey, intergalactic family. “You do realize that you took something very important away from me, even if I didn’t know she existed.”

“Yes, and I’m sorry.” River said quietly. “I wanted her safe first before either of our feelings.”

“You’ve always been a great mother because of that, River Song. Never doubt yourself on how good of a mother you are because of your own upbringing or because of what you did to protect Terra.” He turned to face her in the bed and cupped her cheeks in his hands. “Neither of us can get back those years we lost with her but I want us to do all we can for her now.” He pressed his forehead to hers, “And we can do it together, River. Time holds us no more and we can finally do all we’ve wanted, together. I’m an ageless god, as you say, I should never want to settle down, I only see people I love die that way. But Terra and you, you’re both different. It will be different this time and you’ve both changed me to see that.” The Doctor closed the remaining distance and kissed his wife softly. He pressed her back into the bed and buried one his hands in her mass of curls. 

River gently pressed a hand to his shoulder to make him break the kiss and said, “Sweetie… while I’m all for this. Believe me.” She threw him a sultry look and grabbed his behind with her free hand. “But… I don’t believe we’re done talking about this.” She whispered. River’s face turned serious and pulled away enough for him to get the message she wasn’t done. “Even before I knew that you knew how it was all going to end, I never once thought it’d be possible for us to have any semblance of a “normal life” my parents for god sakes couldn’t even have one and they were completely human. They had me and my mother was never the same. I had Terra and I was never the same. My mother and I didn’t get to raise our babies and that hurts, Doctor, it does. I repeated an unfortunate cycle I didn’t mean to start. I know we can’t go back, I know we can’t just find her where I dropped her off and take her with us, no that would be disastrous but I agree we must do all we can for her now and stop this cycle. There were a few years in there, yes, after Amy and Rory found out who I was but I was in prison, they were in Leadworth. Very rarely did I see them as my parents. I don’t want it to be that way with Terra, if we have to stay on Earth, if you have to take up a job at UNIT again, we have to do it, Doctor, because I can’t lose her this time when it’s my choice to keep her.”

The Doctor sat up and looked at her in surprise, “UNIT? Are you insane I couldn’t possibly take up a job there again, do you know what they’ve turned that place into?” He sighed. “I wouldn’t go this far for her River, we’re always a TARDIS ride away if she doesn’t want to stay with us but my point is, why would she want to leave?” He asked. “She has all she wants now.”

“Do you know that? Do you really know that? Have you asked her? Instead of locking her away in the TARDIS and turning around acting like everything is her choice, have you actually asked her what she’s wanted to do when she’s got a rational head on her shoulders?” River could smack her husband because of how hard headed he was; he had a bad habit of making decisions and thinking that all parties' best interests were taken into consideration when they in fact were not.

“No but that doesn’t mean I won’t. She’s my daughter too River.”

“I know, sweetie. Why don’t we sleep on this and see how we feel in the morning.” River laid back down in the bed and stared at the ceiling.

The Doctor took his place next to her and turned on his side, facing away from her, “Yes, in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Doctor.”

“Goodnight, River.”

xxxx

Terra never liked the way her hair looked in the morning, it matted in knots she never knew existed and it stuck out in other areas that she was terrified to comb. She walked into her ensure bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face to wake herself up. It often came as a surprise to her that the plumbing was so advanced in the TARDIS. Terra made a mental note to ask her father if the TARDIS did that itself or if he went to some intergalactic IKEA and got the latest stuff.

Ten minutes later, Terra walked out of the bathroom showered and ready to get dressed for the day. She hoped her father would at least swing by NYU so she could pick up more clothes. She grabbed some she had stuffed in a duffle bag and threw them on. She walked out of her room and went down to the console room where her parents were already up and bickering as her father pressed buttons and her mother corrected him. 

"Good morning?" She tried to get their attention.

They both stopped and smiled at her wide. "Hello Terra!" The Doctor said and walked up to her. He kissed the top of her head and went back down the steps. "Sleep well? I told Sexy to make sure that you had one of the most comfortable beds in the whole TARDIS."

"Sexy?" Terra raised an eyebrow.

River rolled her eyes at her husband. "It what he calls the TARDIS. I don't know why and I've told him not to." She put a hand on her hip and sighed. "How are you this morning?" River walked up to Terra and put an arm around her shoulders and then walked down the steps with her. 

Terra nodded at her mother, "I slept fine. Where's Jenny?" She asked.

"In her room, I'm assuming. Did you two make up last night?" River wanted their family to get along. 

"Sort of, we agreed to disagree and just parted ways after that." Terra put her chin in her hand as she broke away from her mother and rested her arms on the railing. 

River shrugged, "I suppose that's a start." 

Terra licked her lips and spoke again. "Dad... Don't freak out but can you swing by NYU so I can get some clothes, I kind of am running out and I don't know where the laundry room is in this place."

The Doctor laughed, "Of course, yes well I haven't been able to find it either for about two hundred years."

"Oh sweetie," River said, "Did the TARDIS hide it from you again?”

"I guess she didn't like my new threads," he said in a voice that made it seem like he was trying to sound hip and cool.

River and Terra had identical eye rolls at the Doctors failed attempt to be cool. Terra sighed and walked over to a part of the console and looked at all the buttons, “Will you teach me how to fly it?” She asked her father.

The Doctor paused in the middle of setting the coordinates for NYU, “You want to learn how to fly a TARDIS?” He asked.

“Well, yes, it’s a part of the people I come from. At school on Gallifrey don’t they teach you how?” Terra asked.

The Doctor nodded, his eyes a little sad thinking of his destroyed home planet. “Yes, they did.” He finished punching in the coordinates and then pulled a lever to have them take off.

“Then can I learn?”

“Of course you can.” The Doctor replied. “I don’t see why not.”

xxxx

Terra was packing up her bag once more, nearly all of her clothes were out of her closet now. She heard a cough behind her and turned around. “Oh hey mom, need something?” She asked.

“Sweetie, your father and I have been thinking… we want to be close to you, to make sure we don’t miss anything else and so we’ve decided to be a little Earthbound you could call it for now. Your father is going to see about maybe working with the UNIT office here in New York, apparently an old friend of his works there and I’m not sure what I’ll be doing.”

“Really? You mean that?” She asked. Terra walked over to her mother and hugged her tight, “So I can stay here in the dorms and go to school and then come see you guys after class in the TARDIS or at whatever UNIT is?” She hugged her tighter, “Thank you so much!” She pulled away, “I’m gonna go call Jameson and see if I can finally take him up on a date he’s been asking me to go on!” She turned around and went into the bathroom for some privacy for her phone call.

River walked back onto the TARDIS and shut the door, “She’s all for it, sweetie. Looks like you need to call your Martha friend.” River walked over and wrapped her arms around her husband from behind and placed her cheek against his back. “We’re doing the right thing, aren’t we?” She asked.

The Doctor nodded, “Of course we are, she’s our daughter.” The Doctor said and pulled the lever to transport the TARDIS.


End file.
